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Kenya - Post 4: Alisha's point of view

I've been
wanting to go on a project trip with Brad since we joined EMI in 2007. So when
the talk of a trip to Kenya surfaced around the office, I was really excited
but didn't know how it could possibly work for our family. My excitement grew
when both sets of grandparents gladly agreed to have the boys visit for a week
each during the trip. Watching the boys board their plane in Denver was a
little unnerving, but knowing they were headed to the West Coast for some
family fun brought peace.

We owe a
huge thank you to our parents who turned this trip into a great memory for
Brodie, Jonah and Graysen. The boys were
so excited for their first plane trek by themselves and getting to see
grandparents thwarted any complaints of Mom and Dad traveling back to Africa
without them. ;) As we boarded each of our three flights I was definitely aware
of the distance growing between us and the boys - I think I had forgotten how long
it takes to get to Africa! It made me feel for Brad who makes these treks 2-3
times a year.

...watching the boys' plane pull back from the gate, lumpfirmly in throat.

A week and a half in, the boys were absolutely besidethemselves missing us, as seen in this picture. Err...

Seeing what
it takes to lead one of these projects taught me (as a teacher) what a 12-day
class field trip might look like. Yikes! There are so many details to manage - the logistics of flight arrivals for each of
the team members, money for drivers, general team facilitating, oodles of meetings,
schedules, a final presentation, and the overall well-being of each team member.
I enjoyed observing Brad carry out his role as a leader with humility, using his
British sense of humor and easy-going approach to work to help the team feel
comfortable and not pressured in their own roles.To see him in a position that God has so
clearly equipped him for was great confirmation that we are where God has us
for this time.

It's hard to
sum up our time at Into Abba's Arms orphanage (IAA), but I'll give it a brief
try. The orphanage sits amidst acres of beautiful rural farmland, 1 1/2 hours
northwest of Nairobi. It's a beautiful piece of property, much quieter than our
home in Uganda. Throughout our time there, I enjoyed getting to know Jane
Gravis a bit, a very kind Texan who started the ministry about 15 years ago. Jane
is a woman of faith who contemplates each step with careful consideration for
God's leading - such a sweet lady who clearly loves her 42 kids.

On this trip, I learned that I love surveying! (On my right isHeather, who interned with us in Uganda the very firstsemester after we moved there in 2008!)

Some of the initial Master Planning work

Our team's workroom - from morning to night it was acauldron of activity.

During the
week I enjoyed getting to teach at the onsite preschool a couple of the
mornings, play with the children in the afternoons, and help with the meals and
dishes, tea times, and morning devotions.
Though I had no engineering or architectural skills to offer, the team
was kind to let me help with the surveying a bit as well. It was also a treat to be able to observe the
inner workings of a project trip from start to finish (something I've always
wanted to do). The EMI team was incredible
- engineers and architects who brought open minds and much talent, laboring
from morning till night as they designed a master plan for expanding the IAA
site. I was especially impressed by the team's willingness to listen to and learn
from Jane so they could carefully follow the vision. The expansion will provide homes for the growing
number of children in need while continuing to support those in the local
community through schooling, lodging, medical help and agriculture.

Me with some of the kids I taught in the pre-school

The stories
of how each of these children came to the orphanage were amazing. I'll share just one of many before I close....

Six years ago,
a teenager living in the slums of Nairobi gave birth to her baby and was forced
by her family to abandon him in an empty shack.
Since the baby's umbilical cord was left longer than normal, his little
body survived for two days without being fed.
The nutrition left in the umbilical cord saved his life until the police
found him crying on the dirt ground and transferred him to a rescue center in
Nairobi. After being evaluated he was left laying on a metal table under a thin
blanket.

That same day,
one of the administrators and a house mom from IAA traveled to the rescue
center to take home seven children. When they saw the infant laying on the
table they asked the worker what would happen to him. The worker replied,
"Don't worry about that one, he is going to die." Desperate to help,
they called Auntie Donna, an American lady with a servant's heart who lives at
IAA and overseas the orphanage. Auntie Donna had recently made an emergency
visit to the States to help her daughter with their pre-mature newborn (who weighed
just two-pounds at birth) and was due to return to Kenya. As a result of her
time helping her daughter, Auntie Donna arrived back at the orphanage equipped
to care for the newborn, whom they named Jacob.
Jacob is now six years old, healthy, energetic, and thriving at IAA. He has a family, faith in God, a warm bed,
plenty of food, a school, and 40 friends to grow up with.

Jacob!

When I read
bedtime stories to the children each evening at IAA, Jacob always sat right in
the front, joining in the parts of stories he knew and praying for the rest of
the children before they headed off to bed.
When the second half of the bible story of Daniel was missing from one
of the books, Jacob told the rest of the story in detail. Later in the week, when I taught in the preschool,
Jacob became my aide, helping me learn all the names of the children and
volunteering for any task. He is such a
sweet, bright boy - so outgoing and full of spunk. It's amazing to think of all
the things God worked out for little Jacob.

Before this
blog gets any longer, I want to thank you for giving to our work with EMI
through your prayers and financial support.
Because of what God has done through all of you, we are privileged to
all be working in this ministry together.

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We are the Crawfords - Brad, Alisha, Brodie, Jonah & Graysen. We work with Engineering Ministries International's (EMI's) office in Colorado, having previously lived and worked out of EMI's Uganda (Kampala, Uganda) and UK (Colchester, Essex) offices. This blog is a chronicle of our lives working with EMI.